NAZARETH, Israel
— Not a single rocket has been launched into northern Israel since the Aug. 14 ceasefire between
Hezbollah and Israel.
Here, the streets of the city where Jesus spent much of his life are once again
packed with residents going to work and schoolchildren dressed in crisp, blue
uniforms.

But while life in this mountaintop
city of 70,000 Christians and Muslims has returned to normal, there are few
Christian pilgrims here to appreciate it.

“The tour groups canceled when the
war began, but now that the war is over they haven’t returned,” said Samira Abu Nasser, a Catholic travel agent whose agency is
located just down the road from the Basilica of the Annunciation — the church
that, according to tradition, is built on the site of the home of Mary.

Even now, he said, “it’s
heartbreaking to see a hotel with more than 200 rooms but only three
occupants.”

Shihada estimated that “thousands” of
Nazarenes employed in tourism and related industries have been affected by the
dearth of pilgrims.

“Imagine a single hotel that is
forced to close for a couple of weeks — more than 1,200 people find themselves
unemployed, and multiply that number by 10,” he said. “Every restaurant employs
10 to 12 waiters, and they have no work. We’re also talking about souvenir
shops, tour buses, taxis and many other businesses.”

The recent conflict was an
especially hard blow because, the tourism official said, Nazareth’s tourism industry has been booming
for the past couple of years, after rebounding from the Palestinian uprising
that began in late 2000.

“Most of 2000 was fantastic,” Shihada recalled. “The Pope came to Nazareth in March 2000 to celebrate the
Annunciation in the place where Christianity began. Then the intifada
(uprising) started and it was very bad. Even though Nazareth
was safe, Bethlehem
was closed [by the Israeli army] and pilgrims postponed their trips. You don’t
come on a pilgrimage if you can’t visit Bethlehem,
Nazareth, Jerusalem
and the Sea of Galilee.”

Since the conflict with Hezbollah,
pilgrims and tour operators are taking a wait-and-see attitude, Shihada said.

“The tour operators abroad told me
they are waiting for stability, peace and quiet,” he said. “They said they’d
spent a lot of money marketing the Holy Land
during the past two to three years, and that every time things pick up, the
security situation deteriorates. They’re tired of the situation.”

So are local residents, who cannot
understand why pilgrims have not returned to this holy city, which is so rich
in Christian history and culture.

A month after the cease-fire,
there are very few tour buses in Nazareth
and the souvenir shops are almost deserted.

“We have no business,” said a
longtime shopkeeper who gave her name as Cohar, whose
store, which sells Nativity scenes and stuffed camels, had no customers. “We
didn’t work during the war — there were no pilgrims to sell to — and now
business is still very bad.”

The Israeli government has just
earmarked $8 million to market the north of Israel to the rest of the
world.

Like many Nazarenes, Shihada is hoping that Christian leaders around the world
will encourage the faithful to visit the region.

Said Shihada, “It is up to the Church to bring pilgrims back to
the Holy Land.”